Jim Cast
Headquarters, Washington, DC March 8, 1995
(Phone: 202/358-1779) 4:00 p.m. EST
Dom Amatore
Marshall Space Flight Center, AL
(Phone: 205/544-6533)
Release: 95-23
X-33, X-34 CONTRACTORS SELECTED FOR NEGOTIATIONS
NASA has selected four companies to enter into
negotiations for two rockets which could evolve into the
first new launch systems developed by the United States
since the advent of the Space Shuttle.
The fast-track X-33 and X-34 programs will feature
innovative government/industry partnerships that could lead
to workhorse, reusable launch systems for the early 21st
century.
The three X-33 selectees are: Lockheed Advanced
Development Co., Palmdale, CA; McDonnell Douglas Aerospace,
Huntington Beach, CA; and Rockwell International
Corporation, Space Systems Division, Downey, CA. The X-34
selectee is Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA.
"The innovative 'fast track' procurement process
resulting in these selections is a true harbinger of how the
21st-Century 'faster, better, cheaper' NASA intends to
conduct its business," said NASA Administrator Daniel S.
Goldin. "Within a two month period, X-33 and X-34
Cooperative Agreement Notices were issued, proposals were
submitted, and selections made."
The goal of NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)
technology program is to enable significant reductions in
the cost of access to space to promote the creation and
delivery of new space services and other activities that
will improve U.S. economic competitiveness. The program
will implement the National Space Transportation Policy,
issued by the White House in 1994, and will accelerate the
development of new space launch technologies and concepts to
contribute to the continuing commercialization of the
national space launch industry.
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X-33
Phase I, or the concept definition and design phase of
the X-33, will be co-funded by the Government and the three
contractors. Total funding provided by the Government will
be $24 million during the fifteen months of Phase I.
Each participant in Phase I will develop its total X-33
business investment strategies, operations planning and
vehicle design and analysis with enough detail to permit
competitive selection of an industry partner or partners and
their X-33 design concept(s) at the end of Phase I.
The results of Phase I will provide the basis for an
Administration decision on whether to proceed with Phase II,
which includes design, building and flight demonstration of
the X-33, and would continue through the end of the decade.
The results of Phase II would be used by the Government
and private sector to decide whether to proceed with
development of an operational next generation reusable
launch system.
X-34
The X-34 booster will demonstrate streamlined
management techniques and advanced technologies that have
application to future reusable launch vehicle systems. It
also may have potential application to commercial launch
vehicle capabilities and will provide significantly reduced
mission costs for placing small payloads into low Earth
orbit.
The development schedule will support flight tests
beginning in late-1997, orbital launch by mid-1998 and test
bed applications later in 1998. The current expected NASA
program funding for the X-34, through Fiscal Year 1999, is
$70 million. Cost-sharing contributions will match on a
cumulative basis, as a minimum, the NASA funds provided
directly to the offerer under the resulting Cooperative
Agreement.
NASA's Office of Space Access and Technology (OSAT)
conducts space research and development through sponsorship
of technology programs conducted at NASA field centers, in
U.S. industry, and in American universities. The OSAT Space
Transportation Division supports these activities by
sponsoring the development of the next generation reusable
launch vehicle technologies. Marshall Space Flight Center
is the host center for the X-33 and X-34 programs.
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An RLV World Wide Web Site with information about the
program is available over the Internet. The URL is:
http://rlv.msfc.nasa.gov/rlv_htmls/rlv1.html